On my husband’s most recent trip to the home improvement store, he came home with a brand-new air purifier. He, of course, was pretty excited about his new purchase because, let’s be honest, anything he buys from that store brings him great joy. I was confused though because we already had a humidifier in the same room where he wanted to put his new purchase and it made me wonder- can we run these two machines in the same room?
I quickly brought up my concern to my husband. I think he was already prepared for this question to come from me because his response was pretty well thought over and almost seemed researched. Yes, of course, we can use these two in the same room! They have completely different uses and will actually work really well together to make the air in the room comfortable and even better to breathe.
Of course, this interested me a little more, so I decided to do my own research and see exactly what these two machines were used for and how they were helping us. I guess I always just figured they were extra little things that my husband saw at the store and thought we “needed”. But, after doing my research I learned quite a bit about them. Not only are they more than ok to run in the same room, but they both have really great benefits and are very beneficial to have in your home. Here is what I learned about each of these machines:
Contents
Humidifiers
What does a humidifier do?
Basically, a humidifier will add moisture to the air. It is often used where there is dry, uncomfortable air in the house. Sometimes the house itself is just prone to having dry air and sometimes the climate where you live causes dry air to be inevitable during certain times of the year. Many times colder climates will cause dry air so you will see humidifiers running more during the winter.
To be honest, most people do not even realize they can benefit from a humidifier. Maybe the air is dry and a bit uncomfortable in their house, but they have either just become accustomed to it, or they are not educated enough to know that a humidifier can help them eliminate that problem. However, even after using it for a day, I could see a difference. That’s when I realized it is very beneficial to have one of these in your house.
How does a humidifier work?
The most common type of humidifier is called an evaporative humidifier. As the name states, it used evaporation and is really a pretty easy concept to understand. There is usually a container that you will fill up with cold water. This container will allow water into a basin that holds a filter. The filter will soak up the water as needed and holds on to it. Placed next to the filter, there is a fan. This fan will blow air across or through the filter that is holding the water. As the air flows through the filter, it will absorb some of the water. Then the air is pushed out of the humidifier and into the air in your room.
The idea seems almost too simple, but it works very well. I knew that we had to fill our humidifier with water from time to time, but I had never taken the time to figure out how it worked. It is a simple design to get water into the air.
There are also several other humidifiers to choose from including steam humidifiers that use electricity to push out the moisture. The steam coming out of these can be very hot though, so they should not be used around kids! Other choices also impeller, ultrasonic, and even central humidifiers that hook up to your air conditioner and will add moisture to your whole house at once.
What are the benefits of a humidifier?
I have always heard that when you are sick with a cold, you should put a humidifier in your bedroom at night. I have always done this since I was young, and it helps so much. But to be honest, I never really knew why it helped, I just did it because my parents did and I was just following what I learned from them.
But, after I dug into all the benefits of running a humidifier, I better understood why they help so much. First, it is important to realize what dry air can do to your body. To start, dry air will cause your skin to be dry which makes it itchy, uncomfortable, and can even cause it to crack. It can also make your allergies and other respiratory issues worse. Coughs, sore throats, and dry mouths get even more aggravated. Dry air can also cause nose bleeds, cracked lips, headaches, dry eyes, and more. None of that sounds fun to me!
Pumping some humidity into the air can really help these symptoms a ton. I always notice my sore throats are better and my cold is more bearable after running a humidifier in my room at night. But there are more health benefits that I had no idea about! It can keep your skin and lips from cracking and can even help reduce snoring. It is also good for your house to have moisture in the air. Houseplants will absolutely love it and your wood floors and furniture will last longer.
Air Purifiers
What does an air purifier do?
So now that I understood why we needed the humidifier that we already had, I was still wondering if we really needed yet another machine in the same room to filter the air. I mean, we were already making the air better by pushing moisture into it so that had to be good enough, right?
Wrong. While we were helping the air by moisturizing it, we were doing nothing to CLEAN to air. That is exactly what an air purifier does. It pulls in the air from the room, does its magic, and replaces it with fresh, clean air. After learning what an air purifier does, I completely understood why it was not only ok to run these two machines together, but it would actually make a great combination that would result in us have fresh, clean, comfortable air to breathe in that room.
How does an air purifier work?
The way air purifiers work is an easy concept, just like the humidifiers are. They will have a fan and either one or more filters. The air is sucked in and pushed through the filters. The filters will grab and hold onto any foreign pieces or pollutants in the air and then return the air to the room. Pretty simply, it sucks in regular air, takes out the bad stuff, and returns the clean, purifies the air to your room for you to breathe in.
A lot of people wonder what kind of particles and stuff are in our air that we would need an air purifier to get it out. I wondered the same. It seemed like the air in my house was fine. So, It decided to test it out. I let it run for about a week and then looked at the filter. I was surprised to see that it was definitely catching something from my air. The filter was already dirty!
Mostly, air purifiers will remove pollens and dust. Some air purifiers can also remove mold, bacteria, and viruses. Without removing these, they can be a huge irritant for people who suffer from allergies and other illnesses. While you can’t get away from what is in the air when you walk outside, having an air purifier inside your home can make you way more comfortable there.
One thing to remember when deciding to invest in an air purifier is that you will need to replace the filters. As the filters fill with pollen and dust, they will not work as well and will need to be thrown out and replaced with a new one. Usually, these filters need to be replaced every few months, depending on how much it is removing from your air. Remember to figure out the cost of replacing these filters when you are choosing your new air purifier.
What are the benefits of an air purifier?
Think about how you wash your hands. Imagine you decide that you are going to prepare a nice meal for your family. Of course, you want to make sure you start with clean hands because you do not want to contaminate your family’s food with whatever could be on your hands, possibly resulting in them getting sick. Let’s say when you turned on the water to wash your hands, that the water was muddy and dirty. If you used that water, would you feel like your hands were clean and ready to prepare food?
I sure wouldn’t feel comfortable with that. The same concept can be used when thinking about the benefits of using an air purifier. If you and your family are going to be breathing in the air in your house day in and day out, wouldn’t you want to make sure it was the cleanest air it could be? It is a way for you to safeguard your family and help keep them healthy. This especially goes for children, the elderly, and those who are immune-compromised.
Because air purifiers take pollutants out of the air, their biggest benefit is that it results in you breathing much cleaner air. Taking away these pollutants can help asthma, other respiratory problems, and even get rid of odors in your house. Improving these symptoms will also result in better sleep. Certain filters can even remove some airborne diseases like common cold and some flu, keeping your family much healthier. Don’t forget about your pets also, because they will see the benefits from this too. Many pets suffer from allergies and are on medications daily to help them with the symptoms. After using an air purifier for a few days, you will see a big difference in your pet’s running eyes and sneezing as well.
